More than half of Canadians do not realize women and men are equally likely to be infertile, a new survey shows.

As well, more than half of Canadians said they did not realize that after one year of actively trying to conceive, they should seek treatment for infertility.

The poll also found 88% of respondents felt fertility treatments are too expensive for the average family.

While 81% said they believe a family doctor should educate Canadians on their fertility, just 15% said they've had that discussion.

The online poll was conducted April 14 to 29 using Angus Reid forum panel members. The survey has a margin of error of 2.19 percentage points.

Several Canadian infertility patient advocacy groups conducted the survey in support of Canadian Infertility Awareness Week, which starts Saturday.

The survey was conducted right after the April announcement by the Ontario government that it would start funding one cycle of in vitro fertilization -- excluding drugs -- starting in 2015.

The Ontario polling found 61% of survey respondents agreed all families should have access to some form of public coverage for fertility treatments and 70% agreed with funding IVF, so long as just one embryo is transferred at a time, decreasing the risk of a mother carrying more than one baby.

"Ontarians are acutely aware of the financial barriers to accessing IVF -- arguably the best practice for helping infertile couples deliver a healthy baby," Joanne Horibe, co-founder of provincial advocacy group Conceivable Dreams, said in a release about the survey.